Surfshark Full Review
Created in 2018, Surfshark has since become a leading player in the VPN market to the point of dethroning Cyberghost from our podium.
The Surfshark network is composed of 3200 servers in 65 countries around the world, including France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Notably, Surfshark offers the particularity of allowing an unlimited number of simultaneous connections.
The interface of Surfshark, intuitive and well designed, is perfectly adapted to all those who have never used a VPN in the past.
Surfshark succeeds perfectly in bypassing the geographical blocks put in place by streaming platforms such as Netflix our Prime Video and allows torrenting with very fast speeds.
Finally, Surfshark has several interesting features such as Kill Switch, Clean Web, Whitelister, MultiHop, NoBorders or the camouflage mode (see below)
Surfshark Overview
Unblocking streaming platforms
- Netflix
- Prime Video
- Hulu
- beIN Sports
- BBC Iplayer
- HBO
- Disney+
Surfshark Speed and perfomances
We have tested a large number of servers around the world (see how we perform our tests).
Connection times to the servers were fast, from two to five seconds (which is very good).
There were no connection failures or excessive latency, and all servers tested returned IP addresses that matched the expected location.
As usual, we performed our speed tests using Fast.com, Open Speed Test and the Ookla Speed Test to verify performance.
The results revealed excellent performances, for both North America and European servers.
Even better, servers on the other side of the world such as Australia or New Zealand did not see their speed drop .
In the end, we can see that Surfshark’s speeds compete with the best current VPNs.
Surfshark : unblocking Netflix and other streaming platforms
Surfshark highlights the unlocking of Netflix USA as one of its principal features.
During our tests 100% of the US servers tested allowed us to unlock Netflix USA from France.
BBC iPlayer can sometimes be a real challenge to unblock as well, but Surfshark got around the blockage without difficulty, allowing us to access it from its UK servers.
- Netflix
- Prime Video
- Hulu
- beIN Sports
- BBC iPlayer
- HBO
- Disney+
Surfshark with Torrent
Almost all SurfShark servers allow downloading from Torrent.
To further ensure your anonymity, if you run a torrent client, Surfshark will automatically redirect you to a Dutch server before switching to another server.
Our tests have, as usual when talking about speed with surshark, shown excellent download rates.
The main features of Surfshark
By activating Kill Switch, Sufshark will monitor your connection to detect any change in status or IP address.
If it detects any changes (e.g. your VPN connection fails or disconnects), it will instantly shut down your device or prevent the specified apps from connecting to the Internet (torrent client for example) until the VPN connection is restored or you close the VPN app.
Surfshark Nexus Technology
Nexus technology, created by Surfshark engineers, is a network of interconnected servers.
The traditional functioning of a VPN makes your connection pass through one of the servers offered by the provider, which means that it enters and leaves from that same server. With Nexus technology, your connection will connect to the entire server park of Surfshark.
Once connected to Surfshark, users select the geographic location where they want to be located, the VPN then connects them to the nearest Nexus network entry point and provides them with an IP address corresponding to the desired location.
What are the benefits of Surfshark's Nexus technology?
- IP address rotation.
You will be able to change your IP address without having to disconnect from the network. - Random IP generator (in test phase).
Allows you to obtain a new IP address for each site you visit without disconnecting from the VPN.
In practice, Nexus technology allows you to optimize network performance, improve the speed and stability of your connection and optimally mask your traffic.
The Privacy Policy of Surfshark
Surfshark’s privacy features start with an excellent security protocol (OpenVPN UDP and TCP, IKEv2) AES-256-GCM encryption and kill switch function to block Internet access and prevent identity leakage in case of connection failure.
But this is just the beginning. Surfshark has its own private DNS on each server to reduce the risk of others spying on your activities. It is also possible to use a double VPN (Multihop) to make tracking your online activities even more complicated.
Surfshark emphasizes in its privacy policy that it does not collect:
- Incoming and outgoing IP addresses.
- Browsing, downloading or purchase history.
- The VPN servers you use.
- Bandwidth used.
- Session information.
- Connection times.
The only data the Company keeps about you is your email address and billing information. Concerning this last point Surfshark accepts payment by cryptography.
Another interesting point, Surfshark has agreed to pass an independent audit. It was carried out by the German security company Cure53 but unfortunately only concerned browser extensions. We would have preferred a much more thorough audit like the one performed on NordVPN.
Cure53 concluded that the audit was very satisfactory and did not detect any major problems.
Ease of use
The interface is very similar to any other VPN application, with a login button, server status information and a list of locations, all displayed in several columns, allowing you to access all functions very easily.
To connect, just press the connect button and the desktop notifications tell you when you’re connected and when you’re not. The interface updates to show your new virtual location and IP address.
A list of base locations allows you to choose from all available countries. To find a country quickly, just use the search field, but there is no information about server load or ping time to help you make the best choice. In addition, while the “Recently Used” list allows you to find recently used servers, there is no bookmark system to manage the most commonly used servers.
The MultiHop, whitelister and cleanweb… functions appear in the side panel making them very easy to access.
The “settings” panel allows you to configure the different functions mentioned above but also to activate the kill switch, or the wifi protection which allows you to choose for example to connect automatically via a VPN server if you are on a public wifi network.
There are also more conventional features such as options to launch the VPN with Windows or change the protocol between Wireguard, OpenVPN UDP and TCP, or IKEv2.
Mobile application
The interface of Android or iOS applications is very similar to the Windows interface.
Touching the icons at the bottom of the screen gives you access to most of Surfshark’s features, including the ability to customize automatic network connection rules, URL filtering and the WhiteList feature.
Surfshark applications are also simple and pleasant to use.
Surfshark compatible Devices
The number of compatible platforms ranks surfshark at the top of the vpn range.
Surfshark : technical support
The site offers installation guides for all its platforms as well as troubleshooting guides. Their FAQs are simple, but you are unlikely to need them.
However, if you do encounter problems, support is available 24/7 via live chat or email.
We asked a simple question about NoBorders, and an agent responded within 5 minutes.Complex connection issues are likely to take longer to resolve, but technical support seems to respond quickly.
Surfshark : Prices and Payment Methods
3 different choices all with a 30-day money back guarantee.
Payment methods are multiple and include Google Pay, AmazonPay and Cryptocurrencies.
surfshark one
For more protection, you can choose Surfshark One which integrates in addition to the VPN :
- An antivirus and anti-malware.
- Personal data leak detector.
- secure search engine.
Our review on Surfshark One the complete security suite
Final verdict on Surfshark
It is impressive to see a VPN provider with so little seniority offering a product of such high quality in so little time, to the point of competing today with the best VPNs on the market.
The use of the Wireguard protocol on the majority of the servers has clearly boosted the performance offered by Surfshark, particularly for streaming in HD quality or Torrenting.
To date, Surfshark has succeeded in our tests, to bypass all the geo-blocking to which it has been submitted, Netflix, Hulu Prime Video, Disney+, HBO…
We also appreciate its ease of use through its intuitive and well-designed interfaces that are appropriate for both novices and experienced users.
